0 Wayang Kulit

The more ancient indigenous theatre that precedes the Wayang Wong is the Wayang Kulit/Purwa. Traditionally the function of the shadow play is bound up with exorcism, propitiation and invocation of fertility. It reflects a traditional art, a shadow theatre dated back many centuries ago, but its  origin is still the subject of controversy for reason no reliable sources of data available at present.

Rashers and others belive that the Wayang Purwa in ancient from must have had its source in the most primitive theatrical performances and from a religious base as for example the performance of dema of the Papuan tribes of the Marina Anim region inWest Irian and associated with ancestral worship and form an indigenous ritual initiations for men.

In Bali up to now we still Wayang Kulit performances related to certain kinds of yadnyas (ceremonies) , they are ; Pitra yadnya (burring and cremation ceremony) and Manusa yadnya (birthday, tooth filling and wedding ceremony). At the end of the performances the Dalang or the shadow player makes holy water (tirta wayang), ready in order to be sprinkled.

The difference between the performances of the Mahabharata/Parwa and the Ramayana remarked on the accompaniment. For the Mahabharata a group of four genders (metallophones) in slendro tonality is sufficient, but for the instruments such as small drums, cymbals, a small gong, in order to make the sphere much  livelier and exciting, primarily during the first scene between the demons, the subjects of Rahwana and monkey army, the allies of Rama.

Usually for the few hours performance the Mangku Dalang ( initiated Wayang performer) just presents one of the episodes of the Ramayana for it is rather impossible to perform the whole story. Though the fragment being displayed to the audience is quietly familiar or often know before, the attention for listening and watching is not going to be diminished or vanished, especially when it is performed by a well know Dalang.

He must be a good singer, dance master, orator in short he must be a complete artist as a composer. Like Java, Bali to has a couple of buffoons in the Wayang play belonging to each side of the opposing forces. The Balinese society is so integrated with these Wayang personalities that in the everyday life a certain person is often called after one the wayang figures in accordance with his/her performance it would seem that the role of the above mentioned.

0 Wayang Wong

If the Wayang Kulit  is closely related to the sacred ceremonies not so the Wayang Wong (meaning human puppet). It is obviously know that this Wayang Wong is no other than  living actors who take place of that flat leather puppets’ role. It has been secularized, thought it still functions as devotional expression during various kinds of festival.

It is magically powerful and particular suited to certain season of the year especially Galungan and Kuningan, when the ancestral gods have for a short period left their abode in the supernatural world and come down to inhabit their shrines in the house temples. There are two types of Wayang Wong.

One is limited to the Ramayana repertory and requires a large cast of actors, usually masked throughout representing the various characters of the Ramayana  as portrayed in the Wayang Kulit figures. Even the customes are adjusted to these of the puppets. The other performing the  the Mahabharata is called Wayang Wong Parwa or in short Parwa and normally the actors are unmasked.

Both are drama dances with dialogue. The latter is a little deviated from the puppet appearance and characters, but both have striking similarities in musical accompaniment and archaic formalities. In the beginning the actors were all men but later on the female roles were played by actresses. It is to be pitied that a present such kinds of drama dances a few are left and only found in some remote villages.

0 Topeng Dance

The most popular afternoon (matinee) entertainment, especially with the more serious type of men is  Topeng Dance, a masked play dealing with the exploits of local kings and warriors, episodes of the wars and intrigues of Balinese history (babad) . Two or three actors, usually aged men, play all the parts and impersonate all sorts of characters with great skill, from the halfwitted servants and petulant prime ministers, to the heroic kings and cultured young princes.

It was like magic to see an old man transform himself into a graceful young prince simply by putting on a mask and dancing with delicacy, only to come out again as a lisping and idiotic clown. There is a curious variety of Topeng, the padjegan, played by a single actor who impersonates all the characters. For this the usual curtain booth for the actors’ changes is erected at one end of the ” stage,” while the orchestra plays at the other end.

The actor sits inside’the booth, already in costume but not yet wearing a mask; there he prays, making an offering to the characters about to be played. He lights a stick of incense, dedicates the small offering be has brought with him, and decapitates a small chicken, spilling the blood on the ground. The gamelan begins to play. The masks are arranged in the required order on a basket, each wrapped in a piece of cloth.

The actor takes the first mask, puts it on, still wrapped, holding it with his teeth by a wooden knob, or a leather strap, fixed to the back of the mask. Before uncovering it, he stiffens and seems to go into a sort of trance, ” to enter into the character,” making dancing gestures with his head and hands. Suddenly he tears off the cloth, gets up, and after dancing for a short while behind the curtain, makes his appearance. This is done for each character, and each mask is carefully wrapped and put away after it is used.

This is not for showmanship since it is always done inside the booth and out of sight of the public. As the play develops, the various characters are introduced, starting with the usual clowns, the servants of the prime ministers of the kings involved. Only the clowns speak in topeng performances and they wear half-masks that leave the mouth free, while the finer characters use pantomime. The absurd clowns are clumsy, with stiff wild hair and bulbous noses: one is a shy little man with eyes bulging, who lisps and moves with birdlike gestures; the other is a coarse character with terrifying hollow eyes, large holes in his mask, through which the- actor’s own eyes can be seen.

He has an unkempt moustache:and a monstrous -hare-lip. After them appear the refined old men with red faces and masses of white hair, high-tempered prime ministers, and young princes with smiling, delicate white features. The personality of each character is sharply defined, with peculiar mannerisms expressed in stylized acting and through extremely realistic masks. But the curious part of the performance comes at the close.

Children in the front ranks begin to show alarm and, when the play is about to end, some get up and leave. The gamelan plays a special melody and the curtains part again. This time the pengedjokan appears; be wears the white mask of a grinning old man with protruding teeth, a mysterious smile, friendly and terrifying at the same time. He shakes constantly with laughter and shows a large roll of kepeng, pennies, with which be tries to lure the children, who all run as if for their lives.

He goes after them, chasing them far into the road, and if he captures one, carries him back to the dancing-place and gives the money to his frightened victim. I asked repeatedly for the significance of this curious character, but I never received a satisfactory explanation. The pengedjokan’s other names are Djero Dalam Pegek and Djero Dalam Truna (truna: bachelor), perhaps derived from some authentic character, a bachelor king of legend who liked children, but frightened them because of his appearance.

To be a bachelor after middle age is considered abnormal in Bali. The mask is very holy, or rather has magic power, and no one would dream of selling it. In general a good set of topeng masks is a treasure, since only the bests sculptors can make them. Learned Balinese have a high regard for the topeng as an art.

0 Joged Dance

In the Tabanan district we still find the archaic Joged Bumbung which is obviously connected with the season life in the fields or dedicated to Dewi Sri, Godness of Fertility, as a thanks giving ceremony. It celebrates the rice stamping which is suck a familiar sound and sight in Bali During the rice harvest. But the last development of this dance has found its form in the so called social fraternizing dance, where the dancer , a comely girl selected her partner from the audience by giving a sign with her fan.

The other pervious dance similar to the Joged is the Gandrung. The dancer is a beautiful young man made up and dressed in female costume also choose his partner from the audience, but this dance become out dated by the fashionable Joged which satisfies public taste much better. The modern composition of the Joged came into being at the time of Indonesia fight for independence . This instrumental ensemble consists for the greater part of bamboo instruments in slendro tonality.

First the dancer dance around, throwing side glances to the audience while, playing white her fan while dancing around she manages in choosing the one to become her partner. Her movements are sufficiently to effect the public, so that it needs no wonder, that many wives are jealous in seeing their husband chosen to join the dance.

0 Frog Dance

Frog Dance is the brainchild of dance maestro I Made Jimat, which was established in 1967. Frog Dance depicts the movements and behavior of a frog, and reenacts a Balinese version of the familiar fairy tale about the princess who marries a frog. The Story of the Frog Dance can be summed up as follow, a prince of Jenggala who was fond of catching dragonflies disappeared in a dense forest near an erupting volcano.

A few years later a frog emerged which was believed to be the reincarnation of the lost prince. One day the prince-frog encountered a beautiful princess of Daha: he fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. Unable to fulfill this dream the frog committed itself to ascetic life, but by the blessing of the great God Wisnu, he was turned back into a handsome young man, the lost prince of Jenggala. Frog Dance is accompanied by a folk musical instrument called genggong whose sound is similar to Jew’s harp.

The genggong creates a pleasant background music which quite similar with the sound produced by the frog. I Made Jimat’s troupe use a frog mask to create the frog character with a green jumpsuit which serves as the frog costume. The movements of the Frog Dance are derived from the movements of Topeng (mask dance) and Baris (warrior dance), supplemented with realistic pantomime in the portrayal of the frog. 

Frog Dance is danced by a small child : with his supple and energetic movement he translates the behavior and the movement of the frog into an excellent dance.

0 Drama Gong

The most contemporary dance drama is the Drama Gong which has developed and accepted some foreign elements of drama. It is actually a drama or play than a dance with the Balinese gambelan for accompaniment. It is a mixture of all kinds of Balinese traditional drama. The inclusion of this Balinese modern drama in this brochure means that it plays very important part in the life of the Balinese society today and has become a favorite of the audience.

Most of Drama Gong stories are drawn from the classical romance of Kingdom of Daha and Kediri (East Java), for in this case the Balinese appreciate this link with the historical past, even though at times the historical back ground is no more than the name used. Often we may witness a modern setting but the story itself is not modern. The performance is aimed as an amusement only and of course the comic scenes are indispensable.

0 Calonarang Dance

Calonarang Dance refers to the struggle between Rangda (Calonarang) and the great king Airlangga. Calonarang  was a widow of Girah who gave birth to a daughter in the jungle. Her daughter grew up to be the famed beauty Ratna Menggali. Calonarang  wanted her daughter to marry a prince from Airlangga’s palace. However, no prince came along. Infuriated by this, Calonarang  learned the art of black magic and practiced it against the kingdom, causing many people to die.

When the king Airlangga heard of the epidemic in Girah, he consulted his high priest, Mpu Bharadah. The priest then sent his son to propose Ratna Menggali. Calonarang  was pleased, the curse ended, and the couple wed. Calonarang  inscribed her black magic secret on a lontar (palmleaf book). One day, her son-in-law found it and gave it to his father. When Calonarang  found out that Mpu Bharadah had learned her secrets, she was furious and declared war upon him.

The priest had no choice but to fight and, in a deadly struggle, destroyed the widow by casting a spell. Before she died, Calonarang asked forgiveness. Mpu Bharadah forgave her and showed her the way to heaven. Before Calonarang Dance is performed by midnight, the audiences are gathered, listening to the Calonarang  music, played by a full legong orchestra amplified with large bamboo flutes. Offerings are made earlier and consultations are held so as not to offend Rangda (Calonarang) and to determine whether it is safe to perform the dance which begins after midnight and lasts until dawn.

0 Arja

Among the many form of Balinese dance drama, Arja corresponds most nearly to the idea of opera in the western theatre or rather musical comedy. It is one of the most popular theaters in Bali, derived form Gambuh in style but with a more sentimental repertory of plays, in which singing and spoken lines, stylized dance scenes and amusing buffoonery are combined. Here is the place where the greater part of the casting is played by women primarily young girls. In many villages the local Arja is primarily a recreational club for teenagers of both sexes.

The accent in Arja is on the intrigue in the story, on the singing and last but not least on the comedy. The gambelan consisting of percussion (bamboo zither) and flute plays the part of an accompaniment, not so dominating as in the Topeng, sometimes for long periods falling out together in order that the comic dialogue may be audible. Like the Topeng, if the comedians are skilled many of the lines and jokes are topical and improvised on the spur of the moment.

It is rather difficult for foreigners to watch this performance since the time schedule is from late at night to the dawn. But for the populace it does not make any difference. The themes of the story are also based on romantic or mythical versions of Javanese history known as the Panji story. This dance is so beloved by the Balinese populace, for in it they are treated to varied emotional stimulants and impressions such as excitement, melancholy and farce.

0 Sang Hyang Dedari

Sang Hyang Dedari (Trance Dance) is normally performed to entertain the gods and the goddesses to appease them or to ask for their blessings. A bad harvest or an outburst of an illness may warrant such a dance. The preparation for this dance may take months, as prepubescent girls who have never danced are trained to relax their mind to be able to get into a trance state. Day after day they visit the priest at the local temple to receive their lessons. When the priest concludes that they are ready, and the time is right, the dance will be performed in the court of the temple.

Dressed in elaborate attire and immersed in the smoke of burning incense, the two young girls slowly dance as the accompanying chant of the village women gradually relax them to get into trance. The gods and the goddesses will enter their bodies as they enter trance, and they will dance with movements that they have not mastered in their normal state. They may act and sound like a horse or a monkey; at times, they end up dancing while balancing their back on a piece of bamboo supported by two men on both ends.

When they collapse, the village women will chant to ask the gods and the goddesses to peacefully leave the bodies of the young girls. If they refuse, dancing will continue until they agree, at which point the girls will simply collapse.

0 Rejang Dance

Rejang Dance is an ancient dance performs only in a temple anniversary in inner courtyard of the temple to delight and entertain the visiting god and spirit. Rejang consist of a slow procession, but participants conduct themselves with extreme grace and delicacy. It is a dignified and elegant affair. Compare to other Balinese dances, rejang is the most dream-like dance, surpassing all one can imagine of smooth, unending motion. It is accompanied by mysterious old melody subtle, smooth as the dance and with the similar feeling of infinity.

One by one, in an infinitely slow procession, the dancers came out from the darkness. They were dressed in a bright colored stuff overlaid with gold-leaf, wound tightly round the body under the armpits, half covering the breast and reaching to the hips. A sash of some pale color, chiefly pink or yellow, tied a knot above this, hung down on the right side. Under the brocade corsage, a long tight black sarong with rather shiny surface reached to and covered the feet.

It was very narrow, and folded so that it formed a slanting line from the right hip to the left ankle, allowing a sumptuous train of dark purple, green, flame, or orange, all covered with gold-leaf, to sweep through and fall between the legs behind. The skillful management of this train, which is worn by principal lady in all Balinese plays, is one of the beauties of the dance. The elegance of rejang dancers in their long black skirts, and the subdued brilliance of their corsage and train, their delicate fluttering fans and lovely coiffure flowers, covering the front of the head and outlining the great coil of hair that frames the head on one side, could scarcely be surpassed.

Generally, the rejang is danced in several files, the dancers linked each to each by sashes, which they hold in their left hand, while the right arm, sometimes with, sometimes without fan, keeps up a slow undulation, contracting or expanding, but never raising above shoulder-level. The movement of rejang appears very simple, but is really bafflingly complicated an as impossible to analyze in words as the running of a hound or the swimming of a fish, for all parts of the movement are so involved in one another that there is no moment when any could actually be said begin or end. The best rejang dance can be seen in the village of Batuan, Tenganan, Bungaya and Asak.

0 Pendet Dance

Pendet is a traditional Balinese dance, in which offerings are made to purify the temple or theater as a prelude to ceremonies or other dances. Pendet is typically performed by young girls, carrying bowls of flower petals, handfuls of which are cast into the air at various times in the dance. Pendet can be thought of as a dance of greeting, to welcome the audience and invite spirits to enjoy a performance. Traditional Balinese dances are the oldest form of performing arts in Bali.

Traditional dances can be divided into two types, sacred dance called Wali and entertainment dance called Bebalihan. Wali (sacred dance) is usually performed in some ritual ceremonies only because it has strong magical powers and only can be performed by specific dancers. Bebalihan are usually performed in social events. In addition to entertain, Bebalihan also has other purposes such as: welcoming guests, celebration of harvests, or gathering crowds.

Bebalihan has more variations than Wali. Pendet is the presentation of an offering in the form of a ritual dance. Unlike the exhibition dances that demand arduous training, Pendet may be danced by anyone. It is taught simply by imitation. Younger girls follow the movements of the elder women, who recognize their responsibility in setting a good example. Proficiency comes with age.

As a religious dance, Pendet is usually performed during temple ceremonies. All dancers carry in their right hand a small offering of incense, cakes, water vessels, or flower formations. With these they dance from shrine to shrine within the temple. Pendet may be performed intermittently throughout the day and late into the night during temple feasts.

0 Legong Dance

The most graceful of Balinese dances, this is the epitome of classical Balinese female dancing. A legong, as the dancer is known, is often a young girl of eight or nine years, rarely older than her early teens. It was first created in the 18th Century and is usually the first dance to be taught to beginners. There are many forms of Legong, the most frequently performed dance being the Legong Keraton or Legong of the Palace.

The story of the Legong is very stylized and symbolic and one should know the story before actually watching the performance. The Legong involves three dancers – two legongs and their ‘attendant’, the condong. The legongs are identically costumed in gold brocade, which is bound so tightly that it is a mystery such agitated and rapid moves could be made. With elaborately made-up faces, plucked eyebrows that are boldly repainted, and hair decorated with frangipanis, the dancers relate the story with captivating movements.

A king takes the maiden Rangkesari captive. When her brother comes to release her, Rangkesari begs the king to free her rather than go to war. The king refuses and chances upon a bird carrying ill omens on his way to battle. However, he ignores the bird, meets Rangkesari’s brother, and was thus killed in the fight. The roles of the dancers may change according to the narration. However, the dance usually begins with the king’s preparations for battle and ends with the bird’s appearance.

0 Kecak Dance

What makes the Kecak special is that the accompanying music is provided by the human voice, the gamelan suara, a choir of a hundred men or more sitting in concentric circles, swaying, standing up, lying prone as the story develops. Amongst the swaying masses the voices of the storytellers can be heard telling the unfolding tale. The story is a fragment from the Ramayana, the Hindu epic which finds its expression in many forms, not only in dance, but also in painting and carving.

Prince Rama, heir to the throne of the kingdom of Ayodya, and his wife Sita have been banished from the kingdom by King Dasarata as a result of trickery by Rama’s stepmother. The story begins with the arrival of Rama and Sita accompanied by Rama’s brother Laksmana in the forest of Dandaka. The trio have been observed by the demon Rahwana, King of Alengka, who lusts after the beautiful Sita.  Rahwana sends his prime minister Marica to try and isolate Sita so that Rahwana can kidnap her.

Marica’s magical powers turn him into a golden deer and he enters the forest and when the Sita sees the golden deer she is so enchanted by it that she asks Rama to capture it for her. Rama chases after the deer leaving his brother Laksamana behind with strict instuction to protec Sita. When Sita thinks she hears a cry for help from Rama she forces Laksamana to go after Rama by accusing him of cowardice and he goes off to help Rama with great reluctance after drawing a magic circle on the ground and telling Sita the she should not under any circumstance step out side the circle.

Sita, left alone in the forest becomes an easy prey to the trickery of Rahwana who has disguised himself has an old periest and bags Sita for some food as he is cold and hungry. Sita falls for for his trick, she steps outside the circle to give the old priest some food and rahwana grabs her and takes her to his palace. Once back in his palace in Alengka, Rahwana tries everything he can to seduce Sita without any luck. In the palace of Alengka, Sita pours out her heart about her cruel fate to Rahwana’s niece Trijata, when Hanoman appears telling her that hi is Rama’s envoy and proving it by showing her Rama’s ring.

Sita gives Hanoman a hairpin to show she is still alive and sand him back to Rama with a massage to come to her rescue. In the meantime Rama and Laksamana accompanied by Tualen are wandering in the forest looking for Sita when Meganada, Rahwana’s son, appeares and engages Rama and Laksamana in Battle. Meganada uses his magic powers and shoots of an arrow which magically turns in to a dragon which overpowers Rama and Laksamana and they are trussed up in ropes.

The bird Garuda, King of all the bird, a good friend of King Dasarata, has observed trouble Rama is in from high up in the sky and comes to the rescue freeing the brothers from the ropes. Rama and Laksamana continue on their way to rescue Sita and are joined by Sugriwa, king of the monkeyes, and his monkeys army. This fragmen of the Ramayana come to an end with the bittle between Sugriwa and his Monkeys Army and Meganada and his Demon Army which ends with the defeat of Meganada.

0 Kebyar Dance

Kebyar Dance is a male solo dance like the Baris. There are various forms of Kebyar including the Kebyar Duduk and Kebyar Trompong. In Kebyar Dance, the accent is upon the dancer himself, who interprets every nuance of the music in powerful facial expressions and movement. The most popular form of Kebyar in South Bali is Kebyar Duduk, the “seated” Kebyar, where the dancer sits cross-legged throughout most of the dance.

By de-empasizing the legs anddecreasing the Kebyar Dance 1space to a small sphere, the relation between dancer and gamelan is intensified. The dance is concentrated in the flexibility of the wrist and elbow, the magnetic power of the face, and the suppleness of the torso. The music seems infused in the dancer’s body. The fingers bend with singular beauty to catch the light melodies, while the body sways back and forth to the resounding beat of the gong.

As the dance progresses, the dancer crosses the floor on the outer edges of his feet and approaches a member of the orchestra, usually the lead drummer. He woos the musician with side glances and smiles, but the drummer is too absorbed in the music to respond. Insulted, the Kebyar dancer leaves him and sets out for a new conquest. The Kebyar is the most strenuous and subtle of Balinese dances.

It is said that no one can become a great Kebyar dancer unless he can play every instrument of the orchestra. In Kebyar Trompong, in fact, the dancer actually joins the orchestra by playing a long instrument called the trompong while he continues to dance.

0 Janger Dance

It is rather difficult to trace the origin of Janger. No place in Bali admits to having been responsible for the first Janger. The north Bali says it came from south, the south attributed to north. If Bali makes Lombok responsible, Lombok says it learnt from Bali. Some expert said that the janger is derived from Sanghyang dance. The female and male choirs were taken away from Sanghyang Dedari and formed new composition. Some said that janger originated from the song of girls, who picked coffee beans from the trees in North Bali.

When they were sitting together during their break in the work, they began to sing together, joined by a few boys and it developed into Janger. Other said it was the Balinese answer for Sumatran Rampak Sembilan dance. The popularity of this art performance reached its peak in 1960s, when nearly every village and every school in Bali has its own janger group. In that time becoming a successful Janger Dancer was the dream of every youth.

They hummed the Janger song all day long, accompanying all their activities. Janger is performed by a group of boys and girls., the boys are usually sitting in two row facing each other and the girls are sitting in another two rows, so that they form a square, in some performance the square formation is substituted with two row formation in which the girls occupy the front row while the boys on the back. The boys are sitting cross-legged, while uttering ejaculated sound and doing intricate hand movements which are derived from pencak silat (traditional martial art) movements. The girls are kneeling and singing a janger song while dancing and making weaving patterns with their hands. The janger performance is usually accompanied by geguntangan orchestra. What is quite unique and produce diverse opinion on janger is not the dance but the costume of the dancers.

At first, the costume of the girls was the Balinese sarong and a bodice, and the boys wore sarongs and Balinese headdresses. But with the time the girls changed their costumes to European clothes, even wearing stockings and shoes. The boys changed their sarong to khaki uniforms with apulets and pasted or painted moustache and even dressed as boy scouts. Early writer such as Hickman Powell and Covarrubias agreed that janger is an unbalinese dance. The rapid spreading of janger in 1960s which swept the entire island so quickly made most Balinese share the same thought that janger would not last long, and it is true. After 1965, most of the janger groups vanished from the community. Only a few are left which still perform for tourist in Denpasar.

0 Barong Dance

Balinese dances are famous all over the world and the Balinese themselves take them very seriously. Birthdays, weddings, and temples festivals are all occasions for dramatic performances and dance is inextricably linked with the Balinese religion. The commercial performances for tourists that are today offered on a daily basis in several places of Bali do, of course, not have the same religious significance and atmosphere of a dance that is performed at a real temple festival.  

Barong Dance is probably the most well known dance, it is also another story telling dance, narrating the fight between good and evil. This dance is the classic example of Balinese way of acting out mythology, resulting in myth and history being blended into one reality. The story goes that Rangda, the mother of Erlangga, the King of Bali in the tenth century, was condemned by Erlangga’s father because she practiced black magic.

After she became a widow, she summoned all the evil spirits in the jungle, the leaks and the demons, to come after Erlangga. A fight occurred, but she and her black magic troops were too strong that Erlangga had to ask for the help of Barong. Barong came with Erlangga’s soldiers, and fight ensued. Rangda casted a spell that made Erlangga soldiers all wanted to kill themselves, pointing their poisoned keris into their own stomachs and chests.  

Barong casted a spell that turned their body resistant to the sharp keris. At the end, Barong won, and Rangda ran away. Somebody can die or get seriously injured in a Barong dance. It is said that if Rangda’s spell is too strong, a weak soldier may not be able to resist it, even with the help of Barong. He may end up hurting himself with his own keris. The masks of Barong and Rangda are considered sacred items, and before they are brought out, a priest must be present to offer blessings by sprinkling them with holy water taken from Mount Agung, and offerrings must be presented.

0 Baris Dance

A Balinese dance that Glorifying Manhood and Invoking The Gods. Derived from the word baris which means a line of troops, the Baris Dance is a war dance depicting warriors preparing to confront the enemy. The powerful rhythm of the accompanying Gong Kebyar and Gong Gede, intensifies the movements. The dancers come out on stage holding spears or swords and shields, depending on the type of Baris Dance : their firm steps making a convincingly loud sound.

They really look like warriors going to the war, while in fact the dance is also performed to welcome The Gods and Ancestors to earth. The dance is usually performed by a group of eight to 40 men wearing the traditional garb of a warrior with ornaments on the chest and back, and also a head ornament. The costume that the dancers wear differs depending on regency because almost all regencies in Bali have a signature Baris dance.

In the Baris dance staged at the beginning of cremation ceremony in Badung Regency, for example, the dancers wear a black and whith checked costume and tote black and white checked spears. While in Jemberana Regency the predominate colors in red. Baris dance is a sacred dance performed not only during cremation ceremonies but also temple anniversary ceremonies and other holy celebrations because it is believed that during these ceremonies The gods, Goddesses and Ancestors come down to earth to give blessings.

So the dance is performed to welcome them, to entertain and also as a thanksgiving.